Ben Fogle's wife Marina has opened up about her unconventional parenting methods, revealing that she set up an accident at home to teach her daughter Iona a lesson. Writing a piece in the Mail on Sunday, Marina explained that she spent months telling her daughter to go down the stairs "bottom first" but the youngster wouldn't listen. "First things first: all children will fall down the stairs at some point. I remember when Iona was crawling and she was obsessed with trying to climb the stairs," wrote Marina.
"After two months of chasing after her, saying 'bottom first, darling', I decided to set up an accident to enable her to learn. I created a soft landing with a handful of dog beds placed strategically at the bottom of four stairs that lead into our kitchen. As she approached headfirst, rather than intervene, I let her fall. I was obviously there to catch her and make sure she didn't hurt herself, but the shock frightened her. She cried for a bit but it was the last time she tried to go headfirst down the stairs."
Marina Fogle explained how she lets her children have accidents
Marina also described another incident involving her son Ludo. "When Ludo was two, he came running into the kitchen and hit his head on the corner of our island unit," she wrote. "Horrified, a friend, who had come over for a cup of tea, suggested I go out and buy padded corners – which are seen as an essential part of baby-proofing kit. I told her that not only are those padded corners hideous but a key part of growing up is learning from accidents. Ludo never did it again."
Marina and her adventurer husband Ben, 43, welcomed their son Ludo in 2009, followed by their daughter Iona in 2011. The couple sadly lost their third child, a son, in 2014, after he was delivered stillborn at 32 weeks. Speaking to HELLO! Online last year, the TV presenter opened up about parenthood, saying it was his "favourite thing".
The couple are proud parents to son Ludo and daughter Iona
Ben said: "Ludo is a typical boy, he has lots of energy he needs to get rid of and he loves running around and playing games... but he's also a very imaginative child. He's very happy to sit at a table and just draw things... He's very cool, I'm obviously a biased father but he's awesome." Of his daughter, he added: "She's a little bit quieter, she's very athletic, and I think she'll actually be quite a good sportswoman."